After weeks of speculation and years of not being chosen as the game of the week, ESPN College GameDay has finally arrived in Oxford for the first time.
I’ve been looking forward to GameDay all week, even though I didn’t know exactly what to expect. I knew that this was a big deal for our school, but when I saw the Grove after the crew had finished setting up for Saturday’s television segment, I realized just how big of a deal it was. The Grove stage looks quite different, flanked with orange and white tents and banners with “College GameDay” all over them. It is almost completely ready for the big show on Saturday. Barricades are already set in place and form a pit for GameDay fans that reaches all the way from the stage to the Walk of Champions. Even though the show isn’t until Saturday, fans were already standing along the barricade fence watching the GameDay crews finish setting up on the stage.
At 5:15, I joined the rest of the large crowd in the Circle to wait for the Gameday bus to roll onto campus. There were people of all ages there and members from different clubs and organizations on campus. Hundreds of people waited in anticipation for the bus to arrive. Some people were even painting signs to hold in front of the camera while they waited. By the time the bus arrived on campus, we had all been relocated to the front of the Lyceum. What a gorgeous representation of our school and backdrop for the cameras. At 5:30, just as they promised, a big orange bus made its way into the circle, slowly making its way through the swarms of people and signs and honking its horn all the way. The crowd went nuts. Everyone yelled the Hotty Toddy chant and “Go Rebs go” as loud as they could, over and over again. The bus finally stopped in front of a line of cheerleaders and Rebelettes at the front of the Lyceum. More cheers were yelled while the black bear mascot posed in front of the bus and the cameras shot TV promos of the fans to be aired on Saturday during the game.
What an exciting time to be a part of the Ole Miss family. If I wasn’t already excited for the game on Saturday against Bama, I’m surely excited now. Let’s just hope Lee Corso chooses the Rebels to win on Saturday morning. Go Rebs! 
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